This invention relates to an interior core protector and, more particularly, to the protection of the interior material in a roll of coiled material, for example, a coil of sheet steel.
It is well known that sheet steel, e.g., that which is used extensively in the automobile industry, is placed in large coils by the steel producer for shipment to the user. These coils weigh upwards to 15 tons and include a center core or opening therethrough. It is quite common in strapping of the coil to prevent its uncoiling to place steel straps through the center core and about the outside of the coil. Typically, at least two and sometimes three or four of these straps spaced about the coil are used. Furthermore, it is quite common in the transport of these heavy coils, particularly in their loading and unloading from trucks and railway cars, to use a C-hook which comes down and passes through the center core and is then raised to engage the interior surface of the material to lift the coil on and off the truck or railway car. In doing so, the C-hook often damages the metal particularly by bending of the edges of the material located at the center of the coil. That is, when the C-hook is placed through the coil and raised upwardly into engagement with the material, it is rare that the hook ever engages the material at both edges with equal pressure. Rather, the hook typically first engages one edge and then the other. When this happens, the pressure of the hook on the material causes its bending. This bent material, of course, is not usable and must be scrapped. It is not uncommon for the user to have to scrap 30 to 50 feet of the sheet metal because of such damage.
In addition to damage by the C-hook in loading and unloading of the coil material, it is also quite common for the transporter to throw a chain through the interior core of the coil to secure the coil on a truck or railway car. This likewise causes damage to the edges of the material causing waste and scrap of what would otherwise be usable material.
It has been suggested therefore to provide some form of protection for the material about the interior core of the coil. However, prior attempts to provide such protection have not been wholly successful either economically or in terms of providing the protection needed.